Altering the Original NCC - 1701

Shuttles can't go above warp 1, aren't terribly maneuverable, are rather fragile, and don't have weapons which are any more accurate than the big guns. Pretty shitty fighters. And the Federation knew it, which is why the fighters in the Dominion War were modified Peregrine couriers, a design adapted from the Mauquis.

I don't agree that they can't go above warp one. After all, in the episode in which Picard got a new heart from Dr. Pulaski, they (he and Wesley Crusher) were in a shuttle that had to travel intergalactic distances in a short time. If the shuttle didn't have that capability, it would've taken centuries to get to the medical facilities.

But then again Star Trek has never been very consistent with actual actual speeds through interstellar distances.

Star Trek technology as it has been written into the shows and movies pretty much precludes "carrier type" operations like we've seen in other shows like Battlestar: Galactica.

In reality, hundreds of years in the future, I think carrier type operations will be the ONLY type of starship combat.

Because I think once FTL technology is developed, that actual starships will be giant lumbering vessels that can't manuever and fight effectively in real space so it will all be up to the fleets of small craft they carry.

Actually, watching the episode you can make the case that the Enterprise dropped the shuttle with Wesley and Picard off at the edge of the solar system where Starbase 515 was and that Picard and Wes shuttled to the Starbase at about a quarter the speed of light (Picard did say it took hours).

Perhaps Picard wanted some time to think about his life before going under the knife again.

The Enterprise then went to the aid of the Pakleds (shudder).

But when Enterprise got the emergency call that Picard was near death, they were able to warp right on over and beam Dr. Pulaski down in about five minutes it seemed.

So if you twist and pack it, the time and distance for a shuttle traveling only at sublight in the episode can make sense.

Type 6 shuttles (the kind Scotty took at the end of Relics) are fitted with warp drives.

Type 7 shuttles (smaller than the type 6) are rarely fitted with warp drive engines. I think this is the kind of shuttle Wesley and Picard used.

Type 15 shuttles (the super tiny ones, with just enough room for two pilots and a wall behind them) didn't have warp drives, but could be fitted with low-capacity warp drives.

The type 8 shuttles (used mostly on Voyager) were short-range, so they probably didn't have warp drives.

Type 9 shuttles (the other shuttles used on Voyager) were capable of traveling a little beyond warp 9.

What?

Of course he has served on other ships. No one thinks a Captain cares about the shp he was a lutienent on like he does his first command.

When a person says "Kirk's ship" they mean the one he commands. When Kirk served on the Farrugut, it wasn't "Kirk's ship" other than in the sense that a barmaid might have ask "when you going back to your ship?"

So does that mean Scotty or Sulu didn't care much for the Enterprise? They were just lieutenants, after all, and wouldn't be made Captains until much later on. I always thought Sulu seemed to care more about the Enterprise than his own ship. Hell, he risked the Excelsior to save the Enterprise.

That was out of loyalty to Kirk.

Possible, however it seems unlikely. Look at our modern world, while fighters are useful, the age of WWII style dogfighting is long over with killing shots being fired while they are still out weapons range.

If they're "killing shots" they're obviously in some kind of weapon's range.

They thought that in Vietnam too...

How many type 9 shuttles did a Galaxy have?

Zero, but I doubt they would have given Scotty a shuttle that could only travel warp one. He'd have died of old age before even moving on to another sector.

The E-E is definately more of a kick-ass ship, and my fav Enterprise so far. (Though I love teh TOS movie ship...with the E-E is obviously a homage to.)

But I remember way back when, just before TNG came out, seeing some of the early concept art for the E-D and I originally liked what I saw. She was white, not that gunmetal grey, and a wee bit sleeker, the nacells were smaller, and she didn't have all those big-assed windows (which I my mind kept seeing as the same size as those on the TMP ships, so it made her look - to me - much smaller than she was.)

To me, it looked like an Enterprise, but a very futuristic one.

But then when I saw my first pic of the production model, I instantly hated it. Not the same at all.

Also, while I like the sleekness of the E-E, I liked the size and volume of the E-D. I know some people don't like that "flying hotel" look, but I got the impression of a very spacious, comfortable ship on the inside, made by a very advanced civilization akin to Iain M. Banks Culture GSV's...where people live and work and have familes on starships. (Though in execution, she often looked more cramped than I think she was meant to.)

I remember some early ideas I heard about where the E-D might have a multi-story bridge. And there were couches instead of chairs, and tables for bridge stations. Like this was a civilization who were just really REALLY advanced. They had a ship that was supposed to look less like a tight military vessel or a "goddamned computer center" and more like one made by a civ where art and science and culture and form played and greater role, and function was there, but it was blended in to the form.

I am not describing this very well. Take the arch on the bridge on the E-D...that didn't have to be a smooth, curving, pretty to look at arch, but could have been just an ordinary practical blocky console...form was as important as function. It was made to have pleasing lines...to be beautiful.

But for a sheer butt-kicking ship designed for action, then again, I think the E-E wins hands down. The E-D I think was to be a ship meant for a series where war and conflict and "action" was not the main focus, but exploration and story was.

Also, I like some of the interior design on the E-E...it seems more cramped to me...and I didn't like the bridge at first...but if you look at the walls in the observation lounge/conference room, and in Picard's ready room...I just think they look nice. I like the detail. (I am using a friend'
s PC and she doesn't have broadband, so I can't post pics. ) And I *love* the big multi-story Main Engineering room - that just screams POWER.

That is all.

No. "Intergalactic" means "between galaxies." You mean "Interstellar."

And the Enterprise wasn't "Scotty's ship" (much as he might argue) or "Sulu's ship." It was "Kirk's ship" because he was the captain. When he was on the Farragut, it was "Garrovick's ship," Kirk just worked there.

Not necessarily. They could have dropped him a few light-months from the Norpin colony.

I always like the movie Enterprise the most - the Ent-A/Refit.

Whatever they do, the Enterprise had better have some decent screentime in the new movie. Long, lingering beauty shots ala TMP.

Pretty sure it was the Uncle Jon's ship.

Still, doesn't make TSFS any more bearable.

Okay...

Shuttlepods could barely rate over warp 1/2, and some only sublight speeds. The bigger shuttles though? Absolutely they could.

End of story.

Why is the ship greenish-blue?

Poor film quality.

Spacial anomaly. And at least Kirk had the good sense to steer clear of them instead of driving right at them, like another starship captain I could name.

Except they did give him a shuttlepod. One of the ones with the solid white and gold nacelles, not warp nacelles.

The original? It was painted a medium concrete-gray color with a slight greenish tinge (there's very well-researched article on the color at the CultTVMan website). Bright lights reflecting the blue-screen background used for 1960s process film photography (called "blue spill") combined with the ship's color to make it look the way it did on screen.

The 1701-D? Was intentionally painted an 'aztec' pattern of azure blue and pale green as a tribute to the way the original 1701 looked on screen.

What's the color matter, anyway? Spaceships in film and TV have been pretty much every color there is!

Fuck the colour, the NCC-1701, though nostalgic, is very very impractical in design.

It is a whole lot more practical than any subsequent Star Trek ship design.

Aside from the refit movie Enterprise.

If FTL drive ever becomes a reality, no starship would ever look like anything from Star Trek. Non of Treks ships are practicle. Any shape works in the gravityless vaccume of space.

All I know is that I hated the look of the Excelsior when I first saw it, and continued to do so, until I saw the 1701-D. The Excelsior-class is Miss Universe compared to that thing. Compared to the E-D, the TOS movie ship is Kristin Kruek vs. Bea Arthur. The E-D (that really is an appropriate abbreviation, isn't it?) is just an ugly design, I never liked that ship.